Locking-switch.



P. C. THONER.

LOCKlNG SWITCH.

APPLICATlON FILED 0CT-30.19l4\ Patented Sept. 4, 1917.

Eder 0 m2? To all whom it may concern:

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"PlEDER C. THONER, OF EVERETT, MASSACHUSETTS.

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Be it known that ILPEDER 'C.THoNER, of Everett, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Locking-Switches, of which the following is a specification.

., ,T his invention relates to electric switches lj' especially adapted for high voltage circuits.

Such switching devices are usually attached 3 to afwpll and sometimes to a ceiling, and the opening and closing of the switch is then customarily effected by means of a pole havingi'a hook to engage the movable member of the switch to pull that member open or to swing it back to close the circuit. It 1s, of i course, desirable that there shall be no liadue to the effect of gravity or for other reability of the switch accidentally opening,

sons.

The object of my invention is to provide improved means for positively locking the movable member of the switch so that it cannot be accidentally thrown.

To this end my invention consists in the improvement which I shall now proceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wellknown form of switch having my improvements applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is an elevation looking from the right of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail view partly broken out to illustrate the locking device.

Fig. 4 represents a section on line H of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 represents a section on line 55 of Fig. 1.

Similar reference characters indicate similar parts in all of the views.

Two insulating posts 12 connected to a suit able base 13 are provided with contact mem bers 14, 15, provided respectively with switch jaws 16 and 17. The movable member of the switch is illustrated as a well-known type, of switch blade 18 which is pivotally con nected at 19 to the contact member 15. As so far described the switching device is of a well-known type. a

Supported by the contact member14 is a catchlug 20 which, as illustrated,comprises an angular plate having one portion secured to contact member 1 1, the other portion having an opening through which the catch or hook hereinafter described may pass to en- 7 Specification of Letters Patent.

gage or interlock with the outer cross-piece of the lug.

Secured to blade 18 and projecting beyond one edge thereof is a, lug 21 having an eye 22 to be engaged bythe operating implement, not necessary to illustrate, such implement usually being a pole having a hook at one 'end. The lug, projecting as previ- 'ously described, presents the eye 22 so that t can be engaged from either side. The hook 23 to engage or catch the lug or detent 20 comprises a bar pivotally cpnnected at 24: to the lug 21, one end of said bar being hook-shaped, the other end being curved to form an ear 25 which overlaps the eye 22, said car being curved to a shorter radius than the radius of the inner circle of the eye 22. As shown by comparing Figs. 2, 3 and 5. the eye 22 is cut away at one side and the curved ear 25 fits in the recess thus adapted to abut against the resulting'shoulder of the eye 22. A spring 26 mounted in a recess in the bar or catch 23 bears atone end against the outer surface of a portion of the eye 22, acting in a direction to normally hold the end of the car 25 against the shoulder of the eye,'this action having a constant tendency to hold the catch or hook in the position shown in Fig. 1.

To open the switch the user s'unply takes the customary hook implement and inserts it in the eye 22 from either side and pulls. Owing to the fact that the inner surface of the curved ear 25 is nearer the center of the eye 22 than is the outer wall of said eye, the first result of the pulling action of the operating implement is to swing the bar 23 in a direction to disengage the hook fromthe catch or detent 20, a continued pulling action then opening the switch. Any pushing action upon the movable member of the switch will cause the automatic interlocking of the hook or catch with the detent, in a manner that is obvious without further description.

By the employment of the eye 22, withthe curved ear of the hook or catch overlapping the same, there is'less liability of the operating implement slipping out of operative en- .gagement with the ear 25. In other words,

Patented Sept. 1, 191?.

Application filed October 30, 1914. Serial No. 869,408.

and its lug 21, are amply strong to withstand the pulling and pushing action of opening and closing the switch. This results in no strain whatever being impartedto the pivot 24 of the catchwhen the switch is being opened or closed.

.The structure is such that the switch can be attached either to a wall or to a ceiling, without alteration, and enable the blade tobe unlocked and opened by a downward pull of an operating implement. This is because the inner wall of the curved portion of the pivoted bar is of substantially semi-circular formation and is of shorter radius than the radius of the adjacent wall of the eye 22, so that, whether the switch is in vertical or horizontal position, there will always be a portion of said inner curved wall that can be engaged by a hook on the end of an operating pole to cause the release of the hook 23 from the catch lug 20 bya simple downward pull. This not only leaves the blade with its original strength unimpaired as just explained, but the location of the lug 21 is such that when a test clip'of a well-known type is added to the switch in its usual location just beyond the end of the blade 18, there will beno interference between such test clip and my lockingattachment. This is because the portion of the attachment Lwhich "necessarily projects, in order to permit the use of the unlocking implement described, extends from" a side edge and not the end edge of the blade.

Having now described my invention, '1 claim:

An electric switch comprising a pair of posts,a switch blade pivotally connected to one of the posts, said blade being provided with an eye to be engaged by an operating implement, a catch lug secured to the other post, switch jaws adjacent said catch lug, a bar pivotally connected with the blade and having one end hook-shaped to engage said catch lug and having its other end overlapping said eye, a spring to hold the bar normally in position for its hook to engage the catch lug, said overlapping end having an inner wall curved to a substantially semicylindrical form, the said curved wall being nearer the axial center of the eye than the inner wall of the eye and of shorter radius than the radius of the adjacent wall of the eye, whereby the switch blade may be unlocked and opened by an operating i'niplement inserted in said eye and pulled downwardly, whether the switch is attached to a wall or to a ceiling.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

PEDER C. THONER.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR F. RANDALL, A. W. HARRISON.

Copies ofthia patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

